Friday, October 12, 2012

He says Precinct
3 swing votes are in Bellmead, Lacy-Lakeview,
West and Gholson

If
it ain't dirty, it ain't a Texas Courthouse race. - political adage,
well-worn, wise and to the point

Six
Shooter Junction – Traffic on the local branch of the American
Autobahn affects life as much as weather, water – even football.

When
the widening project reached the Ford store where Brian Scott worked
in Bell County, he had to make a career change. The owners sold the
lot; then they left town. It's that big a deal when they cut off
freeway access at an I-35 commercial location.

A
native of West with strong ties to the community and the car
business, he went to work doing what he knows best – helping people
find their way down the road, riding in style.

He
joined his local Congressman's staff, learning what the people want
and need and the key elements in that all-powerful art of the
possible. He worked in the field for Representative Chet Edwards, a
key member of the Water Resources Committee and the House
Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs and Military Construction.

And
then came the referendum on President Barack Obama. Chet lost in a
landslide, and Mr. Scott went to work in a major insurance brokerage
with headquarters in Waco.

All
those elements of his career are professional. The personal is where
the rubber meets the road, so to speak.

Supporters of his Tea Party Republican opponent have tagged him with the accusation that he refused
to pay child support to a former wife.

He
and his ex-wife negotiated, and the lawyers argued for them in court
over the amount of money it cost Brian Scott to pay for his child's
health insurance. All in, it was close to $1,700 when you added up
the cost of the insurance and all medical expenses.

They
finally made an adjustment that saved him hundreds of dollars per
month. But the truth is, he never missed a payment. A downsized
salary called for a downsized child support budget.

The
only issue was how much the payments should be, and he's got the
court documents and orders signed by District Judge Vicki Menard to
prove it. He never found himself in arrearage.

He
was proud to show those documents to The Legendary in a brief lunch
time interview.

So
Brian Scott came out of his corner swinging, but found his opponent,
Tea Party stalwart Will Jones, refuses to meet him on a level playing
field to discuss the issues in person.

True,
Mr. Jones has made it abundantly clear that he is not the one talking
about Mr. Scott's child support settlement. Those rumors are spread
by his supporters and all their ways of talking, he was quick to tell
local newsmen. After all, it's a free country.

He
will talk on that level playing field, but he has to be the only one
answering questions when he does.

“I
can't get elected running against the Courthouse,” said Mr. Jones.
“I thought you were my friend.” With that, he cut off all
communications with this erstwhile scribbler.

He
refused to appear with his Democratic opponent Brian Scott to talk it
over on the Shane Warner “Talk of Waco” program, a popular
drive-time show that airs five days a week between 6 and 9 a.m.

Mr.
Jones has had an interesting professional career outside of his work
with the Waco Tea Party. He won in excess of $50 million in the Texas
lotto, went to Baylor and got a business degree, and manages his
money full time from a home office on Windmill Hill off Lakeshore Dr.
In 2010, he challenged Joe B. Hinton for the McLennan County GOP
chairmanship – and got clobbered but good.

Not
only does he not wish to discuss the non-issue of Brian Scott's child
support payments, he does not wish to talk over any other issues of
the McLennan County Commissioner's Court - or Precinct 3.

They
include parity in the Road and Bridge Fund with other precincts. It
turns out that Precinct 3, which covers northeast Waco and its
suburbs of Bellmead and Lacy-Lakeview, West, and Gholson, receives a
substantial percentage less than others.

It
adds up to about a million dollars a year less with which to maintain
an array of roads that is only one mile less than its nearest
neighboring precinct.

It's
a well-worn nugget of local political wisdom that County races are
settled inside the Loop 340, Lakeshore Drive, and west Waco.

Brian
Scott disagrees. He is working to wear out at least one more new pair
of shoes working the Bellmead, Lacy-Lakeview, West and Gholson
precincts, gleaning all the votes that will swing his election.

Stand
by to stand by. This is going to get extremely real. It's a battle
between working men and women and the sons and daughters of
privilege, power and prestige.

These
boys are ready for a full-court press, and raring to go.

Now,
that's what I call a Texas courthouse race, the kind that displays
heat, light, and stirs up a little dust.

3 comments:

Well, Precinct 3 races were not settled inside Loop 340, Lakeshore Drive and west Waco until Pct. 3 Commissioner Mashek changed parties to the Republican ticket, agreed to the precinct redistricting lines that diluted the vote by the citizens of West, and then bailed on his West constituents by not standing for re-election. Thank you, Mr. Mashek.

There's another interview for you, Mr. Legendary --- ask Mr. Mashek why he agreed to dilute the voting power of his hometown folks in West for Pct. 3 elections, and then abandon them? Yes, I know that he serves more people than just those that live in the West area, but they are the people that got him elected in the first placE. And now, due to the new Pct. 3 voting lines that he agreed to (which now includes affluent Waco areas that border the lake), West may never see another homegrown Pct. 3 commissioner. Again, thank you, Mr. Mashek.